How does Norman Osborn in Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man differ from his comic version? Series creator explains

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man released its first two episodes on January 29, 2025. Set in a separate continuity from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the show introduces us to different Marvel Comics characters, but those characters don't look and have the same powers as their comic-book counterparts. Some of those include Lonnie Lincoln, Nico Minoru, Pearl Pangan, and Norman Osborn.

Norman Osborn is where Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man brings the biggest change to the table. He is the CEO of OsCorp like in the comics, however, in this universe, Tony Stark isn't Peter Parker's mentor like he is in the MCU. Instead, the mentor role in this universe is taken over by Norman Osborn, who will eventually transform into the Green Goblin, Spider-Man's archnemesis.

Recently, showrunner Jeff Trammell explained how the show's interpretation of Norman Osborn differed from the previous versions of the same character.

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What did Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man's Jeff Trammell say about the show's Norman Osborn?

In Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man Norman Osborn is voiced by actor Colman Domingo, who was recently seen as John "Divine G" Whitfield in Sing Sing. When Jeff Trammell was asked about the changes made to the character the showrunner teased viewers should not bring in their prior knowledge about the character. Here is what he said:

“Yeah, so when you hear Norman Osborne is Peter Parker’s mentor, your mind immediately goes, this ain’t good. So, I think, you know, in crafting our Norman, I very much want to try to fight that, you know, I think that we’re all coming with a preconceived notion of we know who Norman is, because again, there’s 60 years of character that says this is who Norman is, and just from the second you meet him, our Norman is different. Our Norman has different nuances. He’s got a different take, you know, he’s still got that kind of like the commanding presence and the power of a Norman Osborn, but, you know, in a different way.”

The Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man showrunner also revealed that viewers will continuously keep on guessing Norman Osborn's intentions until the very end of the show. He said:

“So I want to make sure that, like, when you meet Norman, In the back of your mind, even if you’re 100% sure, I know where this is going, there’s part of you that’s like, but do I? Do I fully know? Because this is a different guy. So if this is different, he’s different maybe. So for me, it was always kind of like finding someone who, finding a way to express that with the character. And what Colman does is so incredibly well is like adding a level of nuance to Norman to where everything he says. You’re like, oh, he means that, and in the back of your mind you’re like, but does he? So he’s very, he’s he has the character down in such a great way that it allows us to play with, you know, everything he says can have double meanings.”

Apart from pointing out how the show's version of Norman Osborn differs from other interpretations, Jeff Trammell also made a major revelation about the characters that did not make it to the final animated show in another interview.

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Jeff Trammell reveals the Marvel character that did not make it to Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man

During an interview with ComicBook.com, Jeff Trammell revealed that Nico Minoru was not always a part of the show. A young Jessica Jones was going to play Nico's part. In the comics, Peter and Jessica were classmates, and even confessed that she had a crush on him in high school. Considering Nico is bisexual, she may have a crush on Peter too. Here's what Trammell said:

"So being able to pull [Nico] over, being able to pull Jeanne Foucault over, being able to bring Amadeous Cho — so many of these characters that have a rich history, but also, hopefully this opens them up for even more audiences to go become fans of those characters in the comics. In terms of who Peter’s classmate was almost going to be, we had a lot of conversation about, de-aging, Jessica Jones and using her in that spot."

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What do you think about the changes made to Norman Osborn? In case you want to know the changes, watch Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Disney+.